1992 Directed by Lou Antonio
Two college students get a summer job on an offshore oil rig. They are soon approached by a co-worker who had earlier befriended them, and who now tries to draw them into a plot to murder the rig's crew chief.
Germany
USA
Germany
USA
A good friendship, like the black gold beneath the Earth’s surface, is hard to stumble upon—perhaps only the most lucky among us ever find it. When life brings you to a new environment, one that your future greatly hinges on, you seek comfort wherever you can. When you are just two nerdy school boys right out of college (albeit assigned there by your father and wealthy background), you certainly have the right to feel uncomfortable among the blue-collar workers you are now forced to take orders from.
The tension found in A Taste For Killing comes from this desperation of trying to fit in, being the “oddball” within context, and trying to dig yourself out of the cliches everyone’s applied…
honestly i do believe jason bateman would kill someone and attempt to sweep it under the rug in order to go on with his life!
Oil See What You Did Last Summer
A teenage Henry Thomas, several decades before Mike Flanagan adopted him, works along side a pre-fame Jason Bateman and a post-fame Michael Biehn to cover up a murder that was like 40% justified. Maybe 60%, that guy was pretty obnoxious. A Taste for Killing has a compelling hook that never really escalates beyond that level of crazy. There's a few odd moments sprinkled in such as Henry Thomas telling his new girlfriend about how his dad slept with his last girlfriend (to which she responds, "That's parents for ya!") and a oil rig finale where Michael Biehn is chasing him around a jungle gym of poles and rafters, but it never quite escapes…
Murder on the Oil Rig Express. A TV thriller without thrills, featuring an early appearance by the The Bateman and Michael Biehn as a Cape Fear-style space invader. I thought it would be a little more atmospheric and noirish, but alas. But one reason I'm glad I saw it is that I don't get to see too many movies filmed in my hometown, and I could tell while watching that it was at least partly filmed in Houston: oil complexes, weedy fields, derelict old buildings, suburban homes, Rice University pennant, to name a few.
Pretty bare bones and boiler plate. Being made for TV didn't do this any favors. I think a hard R could have led to way more lurid and or campy escalations. I think this is a good role for Biehn, but he's not working with much. Bateman and Thomas can get the naivete across, but that's about the only positive I can give about either of their performances.
Rene Zelwegger shows up before she got acting lessons if you keep your eyes peeled.
I would watch any movie that has Michael Biehn's name on it, he is everyone's childhood hero (if you're a late 80s early 90s kid that is) and to this day he remains my favourite actor of all time tied up with Steve McQueen.
this film is a fine example of how good an actor he truly is, he single handedly saves this movie and makes it an interesting thriller his performance as a seemingly nice guy that turns out to be a complete psychopath is the only positive thing that I can say about this movie.
P.S: Rene Zellweger and Jason Bateman both star in this as well.
56/100
can always rely on these tv movies to have great escalation - Michael Biehn goes from zero to "beats a store owner to near death to steal 3 bottles of alcohol" and "smashes a guys head in with a piece of wood" at the drop of a hat.
Jason Bateman plays the white collar guy who immediately is cool with covering up a murder (checks out tbh) and Henry Thomas is the one who isn't sure about doing this guys!!!
goes about how you'd expect, never really rises above watchable.
“Biehn’s murderous ne’er-do-well – a double denim wearing pied piper – is undoubtedly the best thing about Lou Antonio’s film, which finds Dan Bronson’s script stuck between stations, refusing to commit to either relationship-based melodrama or nasty psycho-thriller.”
Read Dave’s full review after the jump:
The story was on track to be a poignant tale about how the wealthy will go to heinous measures to keep their fortune. Then it completely shit the bed in the last act with a toothless lifetime ending.
My wife nailed it: “They got too close to the eat the rich message, and then they got scared”
Notable scene: Henry Thomas humping in slow-mo
About as bland and sterilized as a thriller can be without being an after school special. For a movie that centers on murder and backyard dealings, there is a shocking lack of grit. Michael Biehn is on autopilot which is a goddamn crime, as everything is as straightforward as possible. In reality I should have known what I was in for when I found out that Jason Bateman’s character’s name was Blaine Stockard III.
young jason bateman and henry thomas’s visuals are out of this world
(happy jbateman day part 2)
In A Taste For Killing, Biehn is back in full bastard mode as Bo Landry, a Texan oil-rig worker with a love for double denim, muscle fit tees and a haircut that requires some serious taming.
This is not a bad psychological thriller with plenty of twists and turns. It has an interesting setting, a decent cast and it features Michael Biehn doing what he does best; playing a complete arsehole!. I promise this movie is worth a viewing if it ever crops up on an obscure satellite channel.
